Highlights

Fortnite Mobile for Android may be a Note 9 exclusive

It may not run on devices without flagship-grade SoCs

This could mean most mid-range and budget Android devices can't play it

Fortnite Mobile for Android is speculated to be a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy Tab S4exclusive for the first 30 days, followed by arriving on specific Samsung Galaxy devices. Also, the Fortnite Mobile for Android minimum requirements is allegedly on the higher side. It would appear that most mid-range and budget Android devices may not be able to play Epic Games' battle royale sensation. Now, more evidence indicates you'll need a relatively high-end Android device to play Fortnite Mobile. As per a thorough report from XDA, which has access to a Fortnite Android leaked APK, a majority of SoCs may not be able to play the game at all. The list is restricted to Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and above, Samsung Exynos 8890 and above, and Kirin HiSilicon 970 and above. If you're looking to play Fortnite Mobile on Android you might need a OnePlus 3, Samsung Galaxy S7, Honor Play or a higher-specced Android smartphone. On iOS however, Fortnite works on the iPhone SE and above.

According to the report, Fortnite Android won't support any MediaTek or Nvidia Tegra SoCs at launch. Furthermore, most Qualcomm, HiSilicon, and Samsung chips such as the Snapdragon 660, Kirin 659, and Exynos 7885 can't run the game either. What this means is, mid-range smartphones such as the Xiaomi Mi A2, Honor 9N, and Samsung Galaxy A8 may not be able to run Fortnite.

With that in mind, it is quite possible that Epic Games may optimise the game further for greater compatibility across the broad spectrum of Android devices, seeing how the Nintendo Switch can run the game (albeit poorly), we won't be surprised to see the Fortnite Mobile for Android compatibility list increase over time.

Previously, XDA suggested that this could be the minimum requirements for Fortnite.

Fortnite Android minimum requirements

Here are the minimum requirements needed to run Fortnite Mobile on Android.

OS: 64-bit Android 5.0 Lollipop or higher

RAM: 3GB or higher

GPU: Adreno 530 or higher, Mali-G71 MP20, Mali-G72 MP12 or higher

If this is correct, it would mean that like other Unreal Engine games, it's more GPU than CPU limited. Most devices with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and Samsung Exynos 8895 or higher should be able to play Fortnite Mobile.

That said, Epic Games had commented on various Fortnite Android compatibility lists doing the rounds with this statement to Gadgets 360:

“We haven’t announced anything in regards to support for specific Android devices. This list does not come from Epic Games and should be disregarded. The only real information you’ll find will come from official sources -- fortnite.com and other owned Epic channels," said a spokesperson for Epic Games to Gadgets 360 via e-mail.

With the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 launch slated for August 9 and a release date of August 23, we may not have to wait too long to find out.

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